Ontario reports more than 500 new COVID-19 cases, over 350 among unvaccinated
Posted August 16, 2021 10:19 am.
Last Updated August 16, 2021 11:35 am.
Ontario is reporting 526 new cases of COVID-19 and no deaths on Monday.
Of the new cases reported, Health Minister Christine Elliott says 353 are in unvaccinated people, and 60 new infections are in partially vaccinated people. There are 113 new infections among people who are fully vaccinated.
There have been no new COVID-related deaths reported province-wide for the third straight day.
It is the fifth straight day the province is reporting more than 500 cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is now up to 469, a level that has not been seen since the middle of June.
The test positivity rate is 2.7 per cent, up from 2.3 per cent one week ago. It is the highest positivity rate since June 14.
There are now 119 people in the ICU with COVID-19 complications and 68 ICU patients on a ventilator.
Graphic courtesy of @jkwan_md
Despite an increase in cases, deaths and hospitalizations have remained relatively low.
Speaking on Monday, Premier Doug Ford said that case counts should no longer be looked at as the most important COVID indicator, something that Ontario’s chief medical officer Dr. Kieran Moore has also suggested.
“COVID will be something we live with for a while longer,” said Ford. “We must always stay prepared, as the doctors have said cases will rise, cases will fall.”
“The doctors have also said case counts don’t mean what they used to because we have so many people vaccinated.”
Ontario administered 26,033 vaccine doses in the last 24-hour period.
As of 8:00 p.m. Sunday, 20,213,876 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered, with 81.6 per cent of Ontario residents 12 and older having received at least one dose, 73.5 per cent are now fully vaccinated.
Graphic courtesy of @jkwan_md
